Lone Ranger radio story
by Rangerfan58
Summary: this is my second story based off the radio series as is obvious by the title. profile explains how i choose to rate things. I am looking for a better story title and will consider options given in reviews or PM
1. Chapter 1

_What you recognize I don't own. Things are going to be wrong so please don't go historical Nazi on me. This series is going to refer to a radio episode arc, the episode arc involves a treasonous group called the black arrow, it starts with the episode a new mission and ends with the episode the end of a page, starting October 1941 and ends April 1942,_

Dan Reid, the secret nephew of the Lone Ranger had arrived in a small town by train expecting to meet up with Tonto so as to be lead to camp. He waited three hours before going to the stable and seeing Victor there, but Scout was nowhere's to be seen and neither was Tonto, as such Dan followed a carefully laid out plan way back when Dan started traveling with the two. Dan found a safe place to stay the night and then simply listened to town talk and in front of the Sheriff's office found out what had happened to Tonto and the Lone Ranger

"Sheriff, are we still not going to go after those outlaws?"

"We can't, we've already lost five men alone this past week"

"But the captives..."

"Made the choice themselves so as to save the town, when the outlaws allowed the doctor to check on those two, the masked man managed to pass on a note to him, and that note says that no more rescue attempts are to be made, he knows how many we've lost in the past two weeks since they were taken"

"It still doesn't make since that a different outlaw helping us, what about the horses?"

"Two things, those two aren't outlaws, as for their horses the outlaws are keeping them, apparently the horses are only calm around their masters"

"How do you know that they're not outlaws?"

"Because the note also came with a silver bullet, and while you don't know what that means I do and the two are on the side of the law"

"Are you certain sir?"

"Yes"

"By the way, didn't the doc hand you two messages?"

"Yes, but only one was for me, the other was for someone named Dan Reid, but I don't know when he's supposed to get here, for now all we can do is wait and hope that the doctor can visit the two again"

"But the doc also mentioned that the Indian wasn't doing too well the last time he saw them, that the Indian was possibly getting sick, seriously at that"

No one noticed Dan outside listening, but after hearing that little bit of conversation he knew that the Lone Ranger and Tonto were in danger and that he had to help them. So he went to the stable and got Victor prepped

"Come on Victor, find Silver!"

Dan is soon led to the outlaws camp. Once there he comes up with a plan that ultimately frees Tonto, but the Lone Ranger would fall over a cliff alongside another outlaw and would be presumed dead

"What now Tonto?"

"Me...me not know"

Ultimately it was decided that Dan would continue his schooling while Tonto would travel alone, continuing the work he and the Lone Ranger had started so many years ago. Meanwhile the Lone Ranger had survived the fall, but he was injured quite badly, he broke his ribs, his left leg, and his right arm, had a concussion and wrenched his left shoulder, not to mention all the cuts and bruises he had acquired during the fight, subsequent fall, and ride in the river, he had been lucky he hadn't drowned

"Must rest, then...find Tonto, must travel on foot to do so though, and my mask won't help matters" Once he knew all his papers were still with him and he was in a relatively safe location he passed out for several hours, by the time he regained conscious he was slightly stronger and over the concussion, it was also late at night

"I'll start walking in the morning, maybe I can find a fort that knows me"

The Lone Ranger had no idea that Tonto was also heading in the direction of a fort that knew them in order to help with Indian trouble, but they were in two different parts of the territory, separated by a huge distance, but the Lone Ranger had plans on using the telegraph system at the fort to send word to all the other forts and other specific places about his survival and to pass on word to Tonto about his survival. For Dan he would message the school directly with means of proving it's actually him, but only once he could do so considering his current situation. On the way to the fort the Lone Ranger took frequent breaks due to his injuries but slowly, ever so slowly he recovered from his wounds, he was also traveling in disguise after almost being killed by a posse one time. Two months after his fall and subsequent reported death the Lone Ranger is finally close to a fort when suddenly he comes across a Comanche war party


	2. Chapter 2

"I must get to the fort and quickly, here's to hoping I can get there fast enough"

With that the Lone Ranger spurred on the horse he was currently riding, a horse that he was only borrowing temporarily. Unfortunately the horse wasn't as fast as Silver and even Silver would have had trouble keeping the Lone Ranger safe with that many bullets flying, and the Lone Ranger was ultimately hit by one of the bullets, but he continued on riding until the horse was killed underneath from him, once that happened he ran the rest of the way to the fort, which had opened the gates at seeing him coming being trailed by Indians

"Comanches...on the...war path, must...must warn...the...town..."

The Lone Ranger passes out from blood loss soon after managing to get out that it was Comanches that had attacked him. The commander of the fort sent his men out while making sure that the Lone Ranger received medical attention that was badly needed. Once the problem was resolved the commander went back to the fort and went straight to the doctor

"How's your patient?"

(Sighs) "I've done what I could but he lost a lot of blood, plus there's evidence of older injuries that are finishing the healing process some of which have unfortunately reopened, I'm actually worried about the ribs since he was hit in the side where the ribs are, and from the feel of the ribs they're only just getting to the point where he isn't in constant pain and the bullet appears to have re-broken a couple of them"

"What do you want to do then?"

"Keep him here until I am sure he'll be okay"

"From what I've observed that won't be easy"

"Yeah...well I have medicine which will keep him unconscious I hope, I don't want to use it but I will in order to protect my patient"

"By the way I heard reports from another fort about the fact that Tonto is coming here to help with figuring out what is going on with the Comanche's he apparently helped with a different tribe who was being defrauded of their food, he thinks it might be the same situation here, but until he gets here Tonto can't give us any guarantees"

Tonto would arrive within the week surprisingly enough, until they heard that part of his quick arrival was the fact that there were a few members of the fort he had been at were transferring to the new fort anyways and offered to transport him and Scout on the train they were taking to the other fort since they were heading in that direction anyways. During that time the Lone Ranger came down with fever, the wounds got infected pretty badly despite the doctor's best efforts, Tonto offered his help when he heard about the person

"Me help, me know some medicine, help others, helped masked friend"

"If the doctor allows it I will allow it"

And so between figuring out that the Comanche's had indeed gone on the war path with reason he helped the stranger, because between the disguise he had never seen before and the fever weakening the Lone Ranger to the point where he was struggling to even breath Tonto didn't recognize his friend for over a week. For the Comanche problem it turned out that not only were they on the verge of starvation because of the Indian agent but there were also people going onto their land without permission hunting what buffalo they had to hunt, when that was discovered the Army took charge and agreed to make changes which would settle the problem peacefully. The rest of the time was spent helping the person who had warned the fort about the problem in the first place, but even for Tonto it wasn't easy to keep the person from getting worse, they were barely alive for over a week, but finally the doctor and Tonto saw that they were making a difference, that the person who had warned the fort would survive because while the person wasn't strong enough to speak yet the fever finally broke after over two weeks of plying them with medicine and broth to keep them alive and strong enough, at least that had been their hope and their hope finally proved founded

"Finally Tonto, finally the fever is broken and they're in a natural sleep"

"That good, maybe you get rest now that patient is getting better"

"I'm fine Tonto"

"No, you not sleep like Tonto sleep, you drug drink to make Tonto sleep, Tonto drug doctor drink if you not get rest soon"

The doctor knew Tonto would do it too, having seen him drug both the fort commander and a sentry who refused to go off duty for a full day and a half when most of the base had been down with food poisoning which he only avoided due to being off the fort at the time of the incident, for the fort commander it was a bit more serious in that the fort commander had spent the same time up and then only a day later stayed up for another full day checking to see that his men were recovering, and was also checking on his patient frequently as well, and Tonto couldn't be punished as a civilian

"Very well Tonto, I'll try and get some sleep tonight"

That night the Lone Ranger briefly woke up, Tonto didn't know about it because his back was turned at the time getting some broth ready for him ready, the broth was also laced with medicine due to the fact that while the fever had been broken the Lone Ranger still needed medicine to fight the infection. Once the Lone Ranger was finished with the broth Tonto ate. The next day the doctor was back and had noticed Tonto had fallen asleep some time during the night not knowing that Tonto had only decided to sleep come sun up when he knew that the doctor was coming to check on his patient

"Well, should have known he was just as tired as I was"

When he did his checks he saw his patient open his eyes, and this time could tell he was coherent

"Hello there, up to some broth?"

"Yes...how long...?"

"You've had a fever for over a week, it's been nearly two since you came here, I'll help you sit up"

As soon as the Lone Ranger was sitting up he noticed Tonto for the first time and confused the doctor with the one word he spoke before eating the broth and going back to sleep

"Kemosabe"

Three hours later Tonto was up and speaking with the doctor when the doctor said something that shocked Tonto

"Tonto...before our patient drank his broth and promptly fell back asleep he said something, one word, it was almost too soft for me to hear but I did"

"What word?"

"Kemosabe"

"Kemo...sabe...him say Kemosabe?"

"Yes...what is it?"

"That...that special word, word meant for masked friend"

"Then...then how does my patient know that word?"

"Me not know"

The Lone Ranger would wake up late in the afternoon with both Tonto and the doctor there, Tonto decided to let the person talk first

"Hello Tonto, it's been some time"

"You know name, doctor say you call me Kemosabe earlier"

"Yes Kemosabe, when I saw you for the first time in so long I knew it was you"

"You...you Kemosabe...you alive...Dan think you dead still...me could have informed him that you alive"

"It's okay Tonto, between the disguise you have never seen before and the fact that I was too weak to talk before you couldn't have known it was me, and since it's obvious that my papers were never searched for the fort also has know clue who I am"

"Me tell Dan good news now"

"I'll come with you"

The Lone Ranger tries to stand up and that's when he learns that he wasn't as strong as he had thought he was and almost collapsed if not for the fact that Tonto had been right by his side

"You still weak Kemosabe, need more time to regain strength, had fever for long time, injured too"

"Yes, your ribs have re-cracked and some of your older wounds also reopened which most likely caused the fever in the first place, what were your injuries before you got to us anyways?, because I _know_ your bullet wound was new"

While the Lone Ranger explained his injuries to the doctor Tonto messaged Dan's school letting him know that the Lone Ranger was still alive, Dan when he received the news was naturally shocked and only the school's superintendent would know about it since he was the only one with Dan when he read the telegraph

"It's from Tonto, it says...it...says..."

"Dan...what's wrong?"

"It...it says that a friend both of us thought dead is actually alive, weak and injured but alive...he doesn't know all the details since he messaged me pretty much immediately after he found out it was him"

"You should go to them Dan, I will give you special permission to leave school for this"

"No...it's better to wait considering where they are, according to Tonto they'll be there for a bit longer and feels it's better that I wait until he sends word on where they're heading next"

"You're still excused for the rest of the day, you're in shock right now and school will be over in a couple of hours anyways"

Meanwhile once Tonto had sent the telegraph the Lone Ranger gave the full story to both Tonto and the doctor because while the Lone Ranger had explained his injuries it was the bare minimum just explaining where he'd been hurt before though he did confirm the rib injuries

"As Tonto knows our captors hurt us whenever a rescue attempt was made, but not seriously, he was also getting sick last I knew but he can explain his side later. Anyways when...a friend of ours rescued us a fight happened and the person I was fighting and I went over the ledge. When I fell the injuries in incurred were broken ribs, my left leg was broken, as was my right arm right arm, I had a concussion and wrenched my left shoulder, not to mention all the cuts and bruises I had acquired during the fight, subsequent fall, and ride in the river, I was also lucky I hadn't drowned in the river, and while I was healing quite nicely being shot re-injured me"

"And gave you a raging fever that was only taken care of with the help of Tonto here, so your turn Tonto"

"Me fake illness, allow doctor to come more frequently, allow me to hear plans without them knowing"

"Should have known that Kemosabe, but you tricked me just as good as you tricked our captors"

"Dan told about you"

"Thanks Tonto, I was planning on letting both of you know myself but...things happened which meant my original plans didn't happen"

"Yeah, you gave us warning and passed out immediately afterwords, that would definitely change your plans, and sorry for not checking your papers, if we had the fort commander would have passed word on about your survival to the forts at the very least"

"That was the agreement last I knew, well Tonto once I'm well again we'll move on, but for now I also want to message the padre"

"Me know you want to do that so me not tell him, but me tell Dan for reason"

"I know and I'm thankful you did that"

"Well, I'll let you sit up for a bit and if you can handle it I'll let you go to our telegraph office to send the message, and then let you regain your strength gradually"

"Understood, Tonto what about Silver?"

"Silver with friends, with son"

"Mag?"

"Yes, him go to valley at times but always come back to son"

"And naturally Dan trusts Mag with Victor and considering where we were last time we were together it makes sense"

Soon enough the message to the padre had been sent and once that was done the Lone Ranger was sent back to where he had been since he had arrived, having realized that he was tired and still needed rest. Ultimately it would take the Lone Ranger a month to completely heal, once he was healed up he and Tonto rode double on Scout to head to Mustang Mag's so that the Lone Ranger could be reunited with his horse Silver. Meanwhile the President had finally received word that the Lone Ranger was alive, word that he had never thought to hear, and he needed the Lone Ranger more than ever, when he received word he knew to send a message to the padre and then also made sure that the message was sent out that a message for the Lone Ranger was at the padre's

"Understand that this mission is completely secret"

"But sir...the Lone Ranger is..."

"Is alive, somehow he survived the fall that Tonto and a young friend of theirs witnessed, he wound up at a fort some time after his apparent death, wasn't recognized until Tonto came and the doctor revealed that he called Tonto something only the two of them truly knew once he woke up for the first time in over two weeks"

And so the messengers were sent off to spread the message by word of mouth like the last time the Lone Ranger was so desperately needed by the President when a group called the black arrow tried to destroy the government. Unfortunately the timing wasn't the greatest since the message beat the Lone Ranger to Mustang Mag's by a week, that was because unfortunately the Lone Ranger had a setback while heading to Mustang Mag's and then there was the fact that Tonto was in desperate need of sleep keeping the Lone Ranger as healthy as he had both during the relapse and the month the Lone Ranger spent at the fort regaining his strength

"You're a bunch of lying varmints and I don't believe a word you just said"

"Look just...if you see the Lone Ranger pass on the message okay?"

"Like I just said I don't believe you, but if he were alive I would tell him only after he had some rest"

"Not this time, this is important, way more important than you think that he goes to the padre"

And so the messenger quickly leaves, and a week later Mag is on her porch when she sees a horse approaching with said horse carrying double, as the horse came closer she recognized Scout and that Tonto was riding up front, the person in back wasn't clear at first but as Scout got closer Mag finally recognized the Lone Ranger


	3. Chapter 3

"Sakes alive, he's alive, the masked man's alive!"

She also realized that she did have to pass on the message once she could because while it looked like Tonto and the Lone Ranger needed rest she could also tell in their eyes that they were quite ready to be on their next journey, but she still waited long enough for the Lone Ranger and Silver to have a decent reunion before passing on the message that there was a message for him at the padre's

"We'll tell you the full story another time Mag, but for now the quick version is that I survived the fall and it took time to heal from my injuries, unfortunately while I was headed to a fort to tell Tonto and Dan about my survival there was a Comanche war path and I got shot in the side, and unfortunately blood loss combined with my previous injuries meant I became feverish and very weak, once Tonto surprisingly came to the fort he helped me heal but it still took a month for me to heal. Tonto had told Dan about my survival but I told the padre myself, and I guess the padre's message hasn't arrived yet"

"No, but a rider with the message about you needing to go to the padre's came here a week ago"

"Then the message from the padre should get here soon"

With that Tonto and the Lone Ranger left to go to the padre's, only hours after they left Mustang Mag's the message from the padre finally arrived which made Mag laugh and explain to the messenger why she was laughing in the first place. Several days later the Lone Ranger and Tonto finally reached the padre's

"Padre, I heard that there was a message for me here"

"Yes my son, the President is asking for you once more, he says that the danger is even greater than the time he asked for your help against people plotting against the government"

"Greater than the legion of the black arrow? I'm surprised since they were some of our worst enemies"

"Ah, they heap big trouble when we fought"

"For now you're to meet him at the same place as last time when you fought the legion of the black arrow"

"Understood padre"

"One question, why were you not identified by the ring my son?"

"Easy padre I...I gave the ring to the doctor to give to Dan, this time I wasn't sure I would get out of the situation alive, and I wanted him to have a keepsake seeing as how he couldn't have my guns"

With that the Lone Ranger and Tonto leave to head to where they had met the President the last time he was needed to defeat the legion of the black arrow

"Tonto, I forgot to ask, but did Dan receive the ring?"

"Yes, Sheriff give it to him after your death, we go back to town afterwords, Dan not see Sheriff until then, but told Sheriff he came on train and overheard conversation of our capture, immediately went to find and rescue us"

"I'm glad it's safe, by the way I thought the message you sent mentioned something about meeting us once we were no longer at the fort"

"Yes Kemosabe, but me wait until you have Silver, but we not get chance now"

"That depends on what the President wants, I may want him to help now that he's older"

"Maybe we meet Dan after meeting President"

"That's a thought, we'll message him in the next town"

That's exactly what they do too, and finally reach the city and the Lone Ranger once again meets the President in private

"Thank you for coming, to be honest I never thought I would be able to call on you to serve your country again, even though I so desperately need you right now"

"I know mister President, unfortunately there was no opportunity to tell you sooner about my survival"

"I understand, anyhow as for the reason why I called for you, the last time you came to the service of your country you helped take down the legion of the black arrow, now there's an evil greater than the black arrow and I am unsure of how to deal with it"

"The padre mentioned that this was bigger than the legion of the black arrow, Tonto and I aren't so sure sir considering just how dangerous the black arrow was"

"Unfortunately that's not the case, if the group you have to fight now succeeds we could have another civil war"

"Civil war?"

"Sadly yes"

And so the President explains everything in full in regards to the group that was threatening civil war once more, and both the President and the Lone Ranger knew that the United States simply wouldn't survive such a thing a second time considering how bad things had been the first time around

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Unfortunately not at this time, if possible I will have agents that will identify themselves as from me to tell you what we learn but for now..."

"I understand sir, Tonto and I will get right on this, after meeting with a young friend of ours first"

"Oh?"

"Yes sir, this friend thought me dead until Tonto found me at the fort, and even now we have yet to reunite"

"I see, hopefully the delay will not be too long though"

"No, it shouldn't be long until we get on the assignment"

"Very well, good luck Lone Ranger"

Soon after the meeting Tonto and the Lone Ranger met up with Dan who wanted to help with the new mission and the Lone Ranger agreed to that, but also told Dan that he had to follow his instructions precisely for his own protection

"I understand sir, this group is dangerous aren't they?"

"Yes Dan, according to the President if this group succeeds there could be a second civil war"

"What plan Kemosabe?"

"For now we start by trying to find any leads we can, all the President could tell me about this group is that they are identified by a tattoo and that one known place they've been active is Albuquerque"

And so that's exactly where they head, the Lone Ranger goes into town in disguise for the moment since he wasn't known by the Sheriff and didn't want to answer questions or cause panic if it could be avoided, though questions would be inevitable later once he took off his disguise he felt it best to try and get answers in person first

"Kemosabe, what tattoo on group look like?"

"It's a rattlesnake, however there's two heads on said snake, one head is black while the other is red"

"Where is the tattoo located sir?"

"Just like with the black arrow it's located on the left wrist, and part of the forearm as well this time"

"Me remember black arrow tattoo, good to know what new tattoo looks like, even if location similar to last time we look for tattoo"

And with that they start gathering information about the group, eventually finding out that they were called Freedom Vipers, unfortunately while they succeeded in taking down small sections of the group the overall group was too big and too strong to defeat initially. As such when Tonto and the Lone Ranger realized that it would come down to civil war they started making sure that the army was as prepared as possible and that the country was as united as it could be under the circumstances and also started making plans to minimize the damage and end the war as quickly as possible

"Tonto, Dan in order to minimize the damage we need to be involved in the fighting, however my mask would make me ineffective"

"What are you planning on doing about that sir?"

"Simple, I'm going to join the army in disguise, however our enemies will still be on the lookout for me, as such the Lone Ranger has to die and remain dead until the civil war has ended"

"But sir..."

"Don't worry Dan I won't really die"

"But how we know you safe Kemosabe, we most likely be split up when time comes, Dan sent some where's else safe and me to reservation"

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out, as for Dan he might actually be allowed to join or be forced to at some point. If that happens Dan you let me know immediately once we have a system in place"

A few days later they had everything settled in how to keep in contact with one another, and also how the Lone Ranger was to die, it helped that they came across an agent of the President who had deliberately tried to find them to tell them that the President wanted to speak with them about the impending war only hours after the Lone Ranger had decided to die, and since the President was only days away they decided to meet with him before making any further plans, which turned out to be a good thing


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you certain about killing yourself and joining the army under an assumed name?"

"Yes Mr. President, it's better this way, Tonto, Dan and I still have things to work out of course but my decision is final"

"What still needs worked out?"

"How I'm to die and how to keep in contact with each other on our status"

"As for keeping in contact with each other you will use me as the primary intermediary, and if needed I will let you know who to use if I can't for some reason, as for your death...since you are often considered an outlaw I will give you directions to a fort that no one knows who you are, I want you to break into the fort and do something that forces them to act against you, I will then make arrangements to fake your execution and once we're sure you're thought dead and your true identity is revealed you can disguise yourself and join the army like you plan"

"Except that there's a major flaw in your plan Mr. President which is the Indian tribes, I'm too well known to most of them and if you sent me to a fort with a tribe that knows me..."

"Hm...than that won't work, what else can work?"

While they were thinking about it someone came in and mentioned that it was almost time for evening meal and it was Dan who actually came up with the solution right after the person left

"That's it!"

"What is it Dan?"

"Poison, the President's life is naturally always at stake away from the White House, mostly from assassins, and the most likely way they would kill the President is through poisoning his food. What if it was made known that you met the Lone Ranger in private about something and he was given the poisoned food by accident, or deliberately depending on what you want to decide, and despite the doctor's best efforts the Lone Ranger died"

"Me have medicines like that"

"Um...what does Tonto mean?"

"Tonto has had to fake my death before, we used and old Indian trick to fake my death and the symptoms before the false death is the same as poison"

"And no one knows the difference, once the doctor leaves Tonto can give you the antidote and we can come up with a disguise and let you join the army without anyone the wiser"

"You know that might actually work, Tonto how soon can you whip the medicines up?"

"Three, four hour"

"And does it have to be immediately?"

"No, it last for several day if needed"

"Than make some tonight and then when it's time for breakfast we'll use the poison and then once the doctor confirms my death we use the antidote...I will warn you and Dan now Mr. President that if you decide to stay by my side the entire time it will not be pleasant, the medicine that fakes death is painful, will give me a fever and bring up everything you try and give me for hydration, in fact the longer you try to keep me hydrated the longer you prolong the poison, making recovery time longer as well"

"The doctor..."

"I know Mr. President, which is why I am asking you to be the one to call it if I give you the signal, he might listen to Tonto but you're the President and as such he'll have to listen to you"

(Sighs) "I understand, what will the signal be?"

"Hopefully I will be conscious to call out to you, when I do so lean close to me since my voice will most likely be weak and I will whisper to you to give the order, if I can't whisper still lean close and stay long enough to act like I'm speaking. If I am unconscious the signal will be the doctor telling you that I have slipped into unconscious that isn't a natural sleep"

"I understand"

And so Tonto made what was needed to fake the Lone Ranger's death, and the next day at breakfast the President, Dan and the Lone Ranger watched as Tonto laced the Lone Ranger's food with the medicine that would allow them to fake poisoning, though the Lone Ranger had forgotten how fast the medicine worked and didn't have time to warn the two. Once the false poison started working the President called his personal physician (who was surprised at who his patient was) which began fifteen long hours of the Lone Ranger's "death". It actually started out pretty mild with the Lone Ranger having fevers and chills, however it quickly progressed to him being in pain and unable to keep anything down. Thirteen hours after the poison began it's work the doctor made the announcement that meant that the President had to call things because unfortunately before the Lone Ranger could speak up he went into a coma

"He's unconscious sir...and unfortunately it's not sleep"

"I understand, doctor...I am giving you a direct order to cease all efforts to keep him hydrated and alive, do what you can to keep him comfortable but...it's time we admit that there's nothing we can do"

"I...I understand sir and will obey your orders"

With that the doctor did the bare minimum in caring for the Lone Ranger, all he did was keep a cool cloth on his forehead and kept a close eye on his pulse and breathing so as to know when the fight was finally over and the Lone Ranger was finally at peace. Two hours after the doctor ceased his efforts he did his fifteen minute check and discovered that there was no pulse in the wrist, he then put his hand on the Lone Ranger's chest and after a final check for a pulse on the neck the doctor simply sighed and pulled the covers over the Lone Ranger's head, signifying that he was dead

"It's over sir, the Lone Ranger is dead"

"I understand, you're dismissed doctor, Tonto and...and his friend will take over from here"

"I understand sir"

Once the doctor left Tonto quickly administered the antidote and while the Lone Ranger was still weak he was awake within fifteen minutes and while his body was weak his voice was as strong as ever

"Before you leave I have to know, how quick is the poison supposed to actually work?"

"Two hour at most, longest time Tonto see prolong is two day, that first time Lone Ranger take poison"

"Why did it work faster this time than?"

"Simple Mr. President, the last time I was given the poison I was in an Indian village who while not familiar with the poison had medicines that helped to counteract it, and while not completely effective it meant that the poison was prolonged for longer than expected"

"Well for now you guys need to get going, though how you're going to do that is beyond me"

"Oh I can fake being dead quite well, Tonto and Dan can carry me out, either that or you can get a soldier to help since Dan isn't quite big enough to help carry me now that I think about it"

And so that's exactly what they do, they get a soldier to help Tonto get the Lone Ranger onto Scout and then the three head off to where they were originally camped. Once there the Lone Ranger makes a disguise and also makes sure to disguise Silver and soon joins the army under an assumed name

"Well boy, here's to hoping I can make things convincing"

Fortunately since he had a lot of practice pretending to be someone else the Lone Ranger succeeded in hiding his true abilities and was soon a simple soldier. Meanwhile Tonto was indeed sent to a reservation, but only temporarily since the military asked for volunteers from all the reservations and the one Tonto was on was one of the ones that sent as many as could and wanted to, he too hid some of his skills, but not all of them since it was agreed that Indians had better tracking and hunting skills than most soldiers, plus they were allowed their own fighting style to supplement their military training, Dan however was indeed kept away from the military despite his age being one where he could be forced to serve. That happened only because of the fact that shortly after Dan went back to school the President decided that he could keep one person from the group somewhat safe and took Dan on as a personal aid


	5. Chapter 5

"But sir I thought I was to continue my education"

"You are Dan, but I don't want you forced into military service if it can be avoided, Tonto is currently at a reservation while your other friend deliberately went into the military. And while I'm sure you want to do everything you can to help end the fighting sooner I feel that I might need you here to do that, plus it's one less concern for him in regards to your safety"

"Are you still going to act as the intermediary?"

"Yes, it's better this ways, it's another layer of safety for you"

"I understand sir"

Over the next five years the second civil war was fought, this time it wasn't about slavery and there were no northern and southern armies, instead it was the United States vs a group that had managed to form their own government and had forcefully taken over part of Texas and New Mexico to form their own country and the only way Dan, Tonto and the Lone Ranger knew each other was alive was through the President at times, and there was a period no one knew if Tonto was dead or alive after his unit was separated from the main force for six months in the middle of the five years of fighting, it turned out that his unit was almost completely wiped out but that there _were_ survivors because of Tonto and only because of Tonto, who could track and hunt with the best of them and there was even a period of time when the Lone Ranger and Tonto served in the same fort which made things much easier in regards to knowing the status of each other. Meanwhile those forced from their homes in the area that had been taken over had joined either what was left of Texas, New Mexico, or for some Oklahoma since it was closer and safer than Texas or New Mexico was and while most stayed out of the military others joined, either voluntarily or by force, but mostly voluntarily, and the two primary reasons people were forced was because they either thought the military wouldn't accept them due to age or a few thought that their skills as a doctor, gunsmith or blacksmith weren't needed by the military thinking that the military had plenty of the three skills, however the military knew that such skills were still needed in the civilian world and so made sure that a town always had at least two of the three skills and that the one skill that wasn't available wasn't too far away, either due to a fort or because there was a nearby town, the only ones not forced were Sheriffs and deputies because law and order was still needed in the towns, as the war started winding down the letters the Lone Ranger sent mentioned such and mentioned his hope of a reunion soon after the war ended

"Tonto, not much fighting today, I truly believe we're coming to an end of the war, this group was indeed the most dangerous group we have ever gone up against, even more dangerous than the black arrow, if we meet we need to agree on a meeting place and I say that we meet in our country's capitol"

Finally word was received that the war was over and the three did indeed reunite in the capitol, actually reuniting in the White House where Dan had been the five long years the civil war had been fought and all three were very happy to finally see each other again, seeing as how Tonto and the Lone Ranger had been separated for two years at this point, only communicating through letters, as for Dan he hadn't seen either of them since the war had begun while Tonto and the Lone Ranger was surprised where Dan had been the entire time the war had been fought

"I decided it was best that at least one member of this small group was safe"

"Thank you Mr. President, now we have to figure out how to bring back the Lone Ranger from the dead since I'm not ready to retire"

"I get the feeling you'll never retire sir"

"Who knows Dan, who knows"

"For now you're right in that we have to bring the Lone Ranger back from the dead, but we also have to heal from this second civil war, which fortunately wasn't as bad as the first civil war, but it was still bad enough"

"Masked friend and me did good as possible to keep damage down"

"I know Tonto, you two started the process before the war started, I know that because I heard from several forts about you"

"For now though all of us are needed in the west, my schooling is done and I can delay college for a bit"

"But Dan..."

"I know you want me to go to school sir, but there's rebuilding to be done and what I already know will help, maybe not much but some at least"

The Lone Ranger was forced to concede to Dan's logic and as such allowed Dan to go with them back to the west to start the rebuilding process

"Though we still have no idea how to bring the Lone Ranger back to life, especially considering that my personal physician declared you dead because of Tonto's poison"

"That's true...and we don't want the poison to become common knowledge either, hm..."

Ultimately it was once again Dan who comes up with the plan

"I know, Mr. President the doctor recognizes me quite well by now, he also knows that I left with Tonto, I could say that after we left back then Tonto tried a secret Indian cure not wanting to believe that the Lone Ranger was truly dead, it worked but left the Lone Ranger so weak that he hid himself while regaining his strength and by the time he was strong enough the war had begun so the Lone Ranger hid his identity and fought in the war in secret"

"Tonto not do that, Tonto not have such medicine, can't fake it this time"

"Except that he wouldn't question you wanting to try one last thing to try and bring your friend back, and if need be I can order him not to ask you questions about this supposed medicine"

"The only question now is when to implement the plan"

"Tomorrow is soon enough, right now the three of you need time together after five years, and yes I know Tonto and the Lone Ranger spent time serving at the same fort briefly, but in my mind it wasn't nearly long enough considering it was just after Tonto and his unit came back after six months being thought dead"

And with a simple motion towards the door the three of them knew that they were being dismissed and as such left to not only explore the capitol (Dan was too busy legitimately helping the President to do much exploring) but also try and catch up on five years of life in both the Army and as an assistant to the President

"Kemosabe, what we do first once we back in west?"

"Try and figure out what needs done, we either help the railroad rebuild, or we go to the area that was force-ably taken over and start helping physically rebuild one of the towns that the war destroyed because of the Freedom Vipers"

"What about the telegraph line sir?"

"You will focus on that Dan, you've learned a lot about telegraphy in the time you've worked with the President, I can tell through your letters"

"Still our usual contact schedule?"

"Yes, and if he agrees still through the President, it's better this ways"

They head back to the White House since the President had invited them to stay overnight, so as to make it easier to keep things quiet when the doctor found out about the Lone Ranger being alive. The next day the President called his personal physician to his office, which concerned the doctor despite the fact that the President sounded okay over the phone

"Well he's coming, I need to know if you guys are ready to catch him if he faints from the shock"

"We are"

When the doctor finally came he did indeed faint from the shock of seeing the Lone Ranger alive. He then accepted the explanation he was given and didn't dare ask questions about the supposed Indian medicine, mainly because he felt that if Tonto ever wanted to reveal what it was he would do it in his own time

"It will take time, but eventually it will be known that you're actually alive"

"I know doctor, for now though it's time to rebuild from the second civil war"

And so the three eventually split up, Dan helping with the telegraph line and the Lone Ranger and Tonto physically rebuilding towns, while still helping law and order when needed. Several years later the Lone Ranger did finally retire, but not entirely by choice, his age was a hindrance yes but he could still fight with the best of them for the moment but after a fight that ended up with Tonto dead and him severely injured he knew he could no longer keep up his fight and so retired the mask and identity of the Lone Ranger, letting the next generation take up the fight in the way that they were taught to basically fading into the background, dying peacefully from old age


End file.
